Greg and Mandy's Travels

Our walking tour with Erick

The official description of El Salvador says that, in the last century, it has endured chronic political and economic instability, characterised by coups, revolts, and a succession of authoritarian rulers. That should just about tell you everything. Certainly back in the 80s, El Salvador was a by-word for basket case. But luckily it is no more, so what is the potted history of El Salvador?

Well, like every other country in this area, it was part of the Mayan civilisation for thousands of years until the Spanish conquerors arrived at the beginning of the 16th century. Like other countries in the area it got its independence from Spain in 1821, and for a few years there were a succession of attempts to form federations with the neighbouring countries, all of which ultimately failed. From the late 19th century El Salvador went its own way, but due to poverty, and probably inexperience by those who were elected, the country lurched from one crisis, coup and revolt to the next. Most presidents became quite authoritarian in an attempt to stay in power.

For most of the early 20th century, the country was ruled by one of two parties, either the party representing the middle class or the party run by the military, both of which were really dictatorships. In 1979 the military staged a coup d’état, and came to power, and the United States supported and financed the military in an effort to stop the spread of communism in the area. The Catholic church and Archbishop Romero petitioned President Carter to stop arming the junta, but this was ignored. I can remember prominent Americans demonstrating against their own government at that time.

El Salvador sees Oscar Romero, who was the Roman Catholic archbishop as a national hero. He was considered ‘the voice of the voiceless’ as they describe it. He was vocal in denouncing injustice in the country, and calling for an end to the violence. However, he was murdered by the ruling military junta whilst saying mass in 1980, and some consider this to be the beginning of the Civil War which lasted for the next 12 years. Romero has been made a saint, and is also one of the martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. Goodness knows how many were killed during the civil war, but the UN estimates more than 75,000. 250,000 people attended his funeral, and the military junta opened fire on the people in the square from surrounding buildings and the palace. 31 people are known to have died at the funeral.

In 1992, the president and commanders of the five guerrilla groups leading the Civil War all signed a peace agreement, brokered by the United Nations. Remarkably it has held until today. They have spent lots of time and effort not only restoring the damage done throughout the Civil War, but also starting to modernise the city, which hadn’t been touched for those 12 years.

In 2019 they elected a 41 year old president who had a completely new outlook for the country. The homicide rates and murders in El Salvador have dropped by around 60% since he became president, and the cities and country are no longer in the grip of gangs and guerrilla groups. Over 53,000 gang members were arrested. That solved the problem. The city centre is being modernised at a great rate, and in 2021 they have eliminated malaria from the country.

The new president also attempted to make Bitcoin the legal tender, and even went as far as giving each citizen $30 worth of Bitcoin to kick start the process. Not surprisingly most of the citizens quickly cashed their gift and spent the money, and when Bitcoin tanked they reverted to using the US dollar.

Today, El Salvador is a rather nice place to be in. It’s modern, has lots of investment, and it’s infrastructure seems to work very well. We’ve never felt unsafe anywhere, although we still want to be careful.

Today was a day to do a walking tour with Erick around the city and see all the wonderful improvements that were being made. Some walking tours we do are taken by professional guides, such as in Guatemala where they need to be licensed, but here in San Salvador, Erick‘s tour was far more laid-back, just like showing a friend your city.

We saw the national palace, the cathedral, the central squares, the market, looked at the city from balconies, and visited the main Catholic church, which was rebuilt in the 80s in the midst of the Civil War in a very modern style, incorporating lots of stained glass and iron sculptures. It is really very magnificent.

After the tour, we hit one of the many lovely coffee shops for morning tea, wandered around the markets, then headed back to our room via a supermarket to get some essentials.

Catholic Church

The cathedral

National Palace